| Moscow. Deputy Chairman of the YABLOKO Party Alexei
Arbatov became a member of the recently established Commission on Weapons
of Mass Destruction Problems (WMD).
The decision to form the Commission was taken by the Swedish government
at the end of 2003 at the initiative of former Foreign Minister of Sweden
Anna Lind. Hans Blix is at the head of the Commission, - according to
the YABLOKO press service.
Arbatov says the issues of WMD proliferation are still urgent. The Russian
representative referred to the need to strengthen the cooperation of global
independent experts as part of non-governmental organizations. This is
necessitated by certain contradictions that have recently appeared between
the great powers.
The official cited the recent actions by the United States in Iraq
as an example. "The bureaucracies of leading countries have begun
exploiting the counter-terrorism slogan as a popular screen for other
targets. This trend is very dangerous, as it is capable of ruining international
cooperation that can be discredited by abuses of some nations".
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